Managing: When candidates turn down job offers... Plus, Telling co-workers to get to the point

She will say it without pausing. Her emails tend to be in this format as well. It’s starting to drive me nuts. Is there any way to tactfully tell her to get to the point?

Answer:

If it’s really just a few extra sentences, you’ve got to just bite the bullet and deal with the few extra sentences.

But if it’s significantly more, you can try interrupting her when she first starts to ramble and saying something like, “Oh, I’m sorry, I just have a minute right now. If it will take longer, it might be better to email or set up a time to talk.” Or, since it sounds like much of her rambling is sort of apologetic about the interruption, you might try saying something like, “Hey, please don’t feel like you need to apologize or explain why you need my help. It’s okay to just jump straight to your question — in fact, it’s actually easier for me if you do!”

But with someone whose style is like this, these tactics might not work. And in that case, you’re pretty much stuck just dealing with this as an annoying habit that’s part of the package with this coworker.

Note: If you were her manager, you could handle this differently, by giving her direct feedback and clearly explaining what you’d like her to do differently. But since she’s a peer, the above is really all you can do.

Alison Green writes about workplace and management issues for The Business Journals. She writes the "Ask a Manager" website, dispensing advice on career, job search, and management issues. Previously she was the chief of staff for a national nonprofit lobbying organization, where she was responsible for day-to-day management. She lives in Washington, D.C.